Tanzania's textile trade unravels

Ajay Shah is a worried man as Sunflag Textiles, the company he runs in Arusha, northern Tanzania, has experienced a huge fall in orders.

This is a knock-on effect of the global credit crunch and the recession in Sunflag's main markets - Europe and the United States.

"The buyers in the US and Europe have stopped buying. They are not able to place any more orders… at this moment we are dry of orders," he tells me.

Sunflag makes clothes, such as T-shirts and dresses, and also produces lengths of material for stores and individual labels in rich, developed countries.

Unlike many firms that make garments, this factory, a few kilometres from the centre of Arusha, starts with the raw cotton and then ships out a finished product, rather than specialising in one particular part of production.

Downsizing

Vijay Dhavale, the plant's technical manager, shows me around the sprawling, dusty plant and explains the process from start to finish.

Bales of raw cotton are being tossed in the air.

CRUNCH TIME FOR AFRICA

World leaders will meet next month in London to discuss measures to tackle the downturn. See our in-depth guide to the G20 summit.

Only one African country will be represented at summit.

This week BBC World News and World Service Radio will be examining how Africa is coping with the crisis, with our blog and reports from the continent

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